Good books

Ladányi took out a book – the Analects of Confucius. “Is it any good?” Gyuri questioned.
“Life is too short for good books,” said Ladányi, “one should only read great books.”
“How can you tell if it’s great?”
“If it’s been around for a couple of thousand years, that’s usually a good sign. This isn’t bad.”

It was the last time Gyuri would see Ladáyni. Gyuri had no inkling of that, but years afterwards, re-examining the scene, he suspected that Ladányi knew. “Don’t forget what I said about good books. And read the Bible occasionally. It’s had some good reviews, you know.”

[quoted from Under The Frog by Tibor Fischer]